If the casing is leaking near the top of the well, then it could be leaking to the ground. When the power is off it might be possible to leak air into the system.

You could test for a large leak by shutting off all water usage in the house and watching the gauge to see if you lose pressure.

You might test for a small leak if you can shut off a valve between the pump and the tank and see if a gauge on the pump side of that valve holds pressure. That gauge should drop quickly if you have a leak on the pump side of the tank.

Well I suppose I do have a leak, I have noticed that the pump goes on without any water usage on a regular basis. Also what I thought was ground seepage, is not. There has been no rain for an extended period of time and the leak by the well is increasing.

I plan on digging up the area, when I get to the well casing what should I expect? Can the casing be replaced?

Since you said you have a well cap. I am wondering if you have a pitless adaptor or if your not in an area where it freezes, you may just have a well seal. Do you see any pipes exiting this cap or do you just see a big pipe with a cap on top?

OK, I dug down about 3- 4 feet. Found the two pipes coming out of the stack. The top pipe had a plastic fitting with a tiny crack in it causing the leak. I replaced it, but I can't get the pressure to come up now with the pump.

I thought I primed it properly. I tried to bleed all the air out through the valve on top. And I tried to adjust the cut-in cut-out pressures.

I am not real familiar with Goulds model numbers. Most pumps either have a prime plug of 3/4" or 1" on top of the pump or the installer is expected to put a priming tee in the only outlet to make priming possible.

I have seen many DIY installations that I have no idea how they primed the pump, since they used an elbow instead of a tee with a plug in the top.

The important thing is, to get the pump full of water. Then it should prime.

Well , I went to Lowes and got the tee valve and adapter to prime. Instead I rear ended someone in the parking lot. My day went from bad to worse. There was plenty of water, so I called the well guys. They pulled up the well and there was a tiny screw head stuck in the venturi of the foot valve. All is well now. I have water ,,,, Thanks for all the input. I learned a lot.